Hurricane Helene is highlighting another issue for homeowners in disaster-prone areas. There is a major gap of homeowners that don’t have U.S. flood insurance. The consequences for this are amplifying as coastal storms batter inland cities with freshwater flooding.

• Flood insurance is not included in standard homeowners’ insurance and must be purchased separately. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program currently covers 4.6 million properties.
• According to a Politico’s E&E News analysis: only 2 percent of households in counties that were declared a federal disaster area from the latest storm have FEMA flood insurance.

Coastal Versus Inland Flood Insurance Coverage

As residents in western North Carolina rebuild and hopefully weather out future storms this hurricane season, few will be able to recoup their costs through federal flood insurance. 

• According to a Reuters analysis, only 1 in 200 single-family homes in this North Carolina region were covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
• Across the 16 states CoreLogic calculates that Hurricane Helene caused between $30.5 billion and $47.5 billion in total wind and flood losses.

“A significant portion of the losses from this hurricane are likely to go uninsured, leaving the individual property owner responsible for paying for repairs,” CoreLogic wrote.

Most private insurers don’t offer flood coverage, so homeowners and businesses in flood-prone areas rely on the NFIP.

Federal Aid for Hurricane Helene Damages 

Residents without insurance can receive aid from various federal programs after a disaster:

• FEMA: Provides a few thousand dollars per household for emergency expenses and minor home repairs.
• Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Occasionally has a reserve of funds for disaster aid, but it typically takes 2 to 3 years for the funds to reach households.
• Small Business Administration (SBA): Offers low-interest loans of up to $500,000 for property repairs and up to $100,000 for personal property replacement. Unfortunately these loans are available only to those with adequate credit scores.

The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has issued a stark warning: FEMA lacks the funds to sustain its operations through the remainder of this hurricane season, which lasts until the end of November. Though the season began quietly, it turned catastrophic with Hurricane Helene.

Mayorkas emphasized the strain on federal resources, noting that additional funding from Congress is uncertain. “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” he said.

As FEMA continues to aid those impacted by Helene—which has affected 10 states and claimed at least 215 lives—more than 150,000 households have already applied for assistance, a number that is expected to grow.